


Chasing Happiness

by bonotje



Series: Family Life [2]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Gen, M/M, the fluffiest of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 22:04:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13622433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonotje/pseuds/bonotje
Summary: Aaron and Robert have a special surprise for little Thomas.





	Chasing Happiness

**Author's Note:**

> I think the fics in this verse will just always be inspired by Matt and Blue videos. Anyway enjoy this fluff-fest

Aaron was jealous. Jealous of Robert and the fact that he was the one that would be picking up their new puppy and not him. He knew it was more practical to let Robert drive by the shelter on his way home from his meeting in Leeds, but that didn’t stop him from sulking just a little bit. 

After lots of arguing he had finally convinced Robert that getting a puppy would be a lovely new addition to their little family. Thomas was almost 5 now and would be growing up with their new dog. Thomas had always loved other people’s dogs so he was sure he would love his very own dog to have as a friend. 

The little boy was sat innocently watching a cartoon on their brand new TV, all the while Aaron was getting more and more antsy. Robert should’ve been back home already and he didn’t know what was keeping him so long. He wanted to see the little pup again. They’d gone to look at a litter of German Shepherd puppies a few weeks ago and he had wanted to take all of them home with him because they were all so cute. In the end they had chosen the little dog that had kept bumping his nose into Robert’s hand. As if he knew it was Robert that needed the convincing to take him home and not Aaron who was infatuated with the puppies the second he laid eyes on them. 

They’d wrapped a big plastic box last night and had hid it in the shed outside. Robert was meant to sneak around the house and put the new puppy in it, keeping it hidden with a loose lid until they urged Thomas outside to open his present.

He heard the gravel crunch underneath the tires of Robert’s car as he finally pulled up their drive. He heard the door slam and then he heard a tiny bark coming from outside. Aaron send Thomas a worried glance, not wanting the surprise to be ruined too early, but his son was still totally focussed on the TV in front of him. 

A few minutes later he felt his phone buzz against his leg. He quickly looked at the new message, but already knew it would be Robert letting him know the surprise was ready for Thomas. 

“Hey Tommy,” he said trying to get the attention of the little boy. With seemingly a lot of effort the boy’s eyes lifted away from the bright colours on the TV. 

“Yes daddy?”

“You want to know a little secret?”

Thomas nodded enthusiastically, his eyes bright with excitement. 

“Me and Papa have a special little surprise for you because you’ve been such a good boy lately. Do you want to come have a look in the yard with me to find out what the surprise is?”

Before he knew it Thomas was already up from the floor and running towards the backdoor, reaching up to open the door before bursting into the yard. 

Robert was sat on the damp grass trying to keep the lid from getting pushed off by the restless dog inside of the box. Aaron knew he would be complaining about grass stains on his expensive jeans later, but for now he was grinning up at his son and husband. 

“What’s this?” Thomas asked as he saw the big box his father was holding. 

“Why don’t you go on and open it and see.” Robert said, sending his son another grin. 

Thomas kneeled on the grass in front of the box and grabbed the lid, but he didn’t have to do much lifting as the little pup was already pushing the lid up with his head. A wet nose was pressing up against the little boy’s face as soon as the lid was fully off, the dog not at all scared by the excited squeal that erupted from their son as soon as he saw the dog.

“Thank you!” Thomas exclaimed happily as he flung himself at Robert to give him a big hug. 

“You should be giving him a cuddle, darling,” Robert chuckled as he ruffled Thomas’ hair before pointing at the puppy that was trying to climb out of the box with excited little yaps, eager to get to play with his new friend. Aaron crouched down next to his son to help him get the dog out of the box and was rewarded with a wet tongue licking over his face. He spluttered a bit as the dog kept licking over his mouth, giving him no room to breathe, but he couldn’t wipe the big grin from his face. 

He’d missed having a dog. It had been way too long since he had Clyde, but he hadn’t exactly had the time for a dog with him in on the run in France for a few years and then the tumultuous start of his relationship with Robert. And once they were a bit more settled it hadn’t taken that long before they were adopting Thomas. But now that their boy was a little older and their lives were slightly less hectic he figured now would be the perfect time for a dog. And seeing the delight on his son’s face he knew he had made the right decision even if it took some interesting ways of persuasion to get Robert to agree with him.

“What should we name him then huh?” Aaron asked after both his son and new puppy had tired themselves out a bit by running around their yard. 

“I get to name him?!”

“Of course, he’s your doggie isn’t he.”

A serious look crossed Thomas’ face as he had a long hard think to come up with the perfect name. Robert send him an amused look as after about 5 minutes Thomas was still thinking it over. 

Then all of a sudden the look turned into a delighted grin. “Chase! That’s his name”

“Really? That’s a brilliant name mate!” Aaron agreed with his son happily. He wasn’t all that surprised he had chosen the name of one of the main characters from his favourite cartoon. To be honest he was just glad he hadn’t chosen Marshal or Rubble some of the other characters from the show. 

The puppy seemed to agree with his new name as he was already running around the yard again, happily chasing Thomas who kept chanting his name. 

\--

It was a few hours later and both Thomas and the dog had finally collapsed on the sofa after a few more hours of playing around and chasing each other in the garden. It had taken a lot of effort to get the little boy to stay seated in his chair at the kitchen table as they tried to get him to eat something. And more importantly stop him from feeding his dinner to the puppy instead. 

It was an adorable sight. Tommy’s arms were wrapped around the puppy as they both lay on the couch, his eyes drooping shut for longer and longer each time. It was very adorable, but Aaron knew he couldn’t let Thomas fall asleep on the sofa. It was still a school day tomorrow after all and they’d already let him stay up past his bedtime. 

“Hey Tommy, let’s get you to bed hey mate,” he said running a gentle hand through the boy’s curls. 

“Nooo,” the little boy whined, not letting go of the dog still wrapped up in his arms. 

“Come on mate, you need to put on your pjs and brush your teeth. The tooth fairy won’t be very happy if there’s cavities in your teeth. She will only give you 50p for bad teeth and you don’t want that to happen to you?”

Thomas shook his head furiously as he finally made a move to get up from the sofa, the dog jumping down with him. He ran up the stairs, even though both him and Robert had told him off for that multiple time, the spiral staircase though childproofed was still a hazard. 

Chase jumped up the first step but then let out a frustrated little yap as he couldn’t figure out how to climb the stairs. 

“Oh no, Chase doesn’t know how to climb the stairs. Daddy help!”

Aaron was already bending down to pick up the little pup when he saw the look Robert send him. Robert would be telling him off for taking the dog upstairs later on, but Aaron figured that just this once he wouldn’t mind. The furry coat was soft against his skin as he cradled the dog in his arms whilst climbing the stairs. Thomas was giving him a bright smile as he put the dog down on the landing. 

“Right, teeth Thomas,” Aaron said after Thomas had had a quick cuddle with the dog. The puppy followed them into the bathroom and sat down waiting patiently as Thomas brushed his teeth. Then all of a sudden Thomas pulled the toothbrush from his foamy mouth and was on his knees in front of the dog.

“What you doing bud?”

“Brushing Chase’s teeth for the tooth fairy.” The little boy said matter-of-factly as he reached out his toothbrush towards the puppy. 

“Why don’t we get Chase his own toothbrush, huh,” Aaron said quickly stopping Thomas from actually brushing the dog’s teeth with his own toothbrush. 

“But what about today?”

“We’ll make sure to brush his teeth extra well tomorrow instead, yeah.”

“I guess,” Thomas shrugged, before rinsing his mouth. 

\--- 

“Aaron where’s the dog?” Robert said with a sigh as Aaron came down from tucking in their son without Chase.

“They were too cute Robert. Just let the dog sleep with him for one night.”

“Aaron, you know it will never stay with just one night if you allow it now.”

“Oh come on Robert the dog can’t even get upstairs by himself yet, we’ll just not carry him upstairs next time.”

“Aaron.”

“Robert, look,” he said showing his husband the picture he had taken of Thomas in his bed tucked under his Paw Patrol duvet, Chase curled up at the foot of the bed. He could see Robert’s reserve melt as he looked at the picture, it really was too cute for words. 

“Okay, but just this once Aaron. There will be enough dog hairs to get rid of down here as is.”

“Yes, yes, you grumpy fool. Come on let’s just have a quiet night now that those two are finally tuckered out.”

And with a beer in hand they both let themself relax into the soft sofa, not intending to get up from it for a few more hours.

**Author's Note:**

> As always kudos and comments make my writers heart soar. And you can find me on tumblr at [sleepysuggles](http://www.sleepysuggles.tumblr.com)


End file.
